Katie idly scrolls through her phone as she sits at the bus stop. Hunger gnaws at her stomach. She internally debates whether to shell out for takeout or save money and heat up something from the freezer. Her bones feel like they're made of lead. She wants to lay down, but knows the bus will just arrive as soon as she does.
She tries on the kimono. It's pretty and she likes the patterns and she's feeling adventurous. She's a little sad Mo isn't picking out her clothes for her but her friends on Eris just had a whole conversation the other day about how domming takes effort and shouldn't be taken for granted so she doesn't hold it against her.
She strolls on down, a spring in her step that is probably gonna get more difficult as time goes on. She should probably start doing leg exercises. She likes being springy.
For lunch there's a menu and waitgoons to bring dishes. Monoceros waves Katie over to a two-person table.
The theme today appears to be Indian food. The smell of fresh flatbread and spices blooming in ghee is wafting up from the kitchen. As soon as Katie's ass hits the chair a waitgoon deposits a basket of assorted flatbreads and a meta-dish full of smaller dishes each with a different dip/relish/spread/sauce.
Her spice tolerance isn't the best, but she'll do what she can. She plops down next to Mo and grabs a bite of whatever looks meatiest and least likely to burn her mouth.
Well, there's a yogurt sauce, and there's no meat in this course but she can get a kulcha full of perfectly bouncy-soft paneer. Monoceros is working on a garlic naan slathered in relish and chutney, herself. "Check out your menu, order a few things, I'll supplement for you if it's not enough things," she says, gesturing at the paper next to Katie's plate.
Rasam
Samosas
Fish Pakora
Vegetable Pakora
Gobi Manchurian
Lamb Vindaloo
Butter Chicken
Malai Kofta
Navratan Korma
Curried Goat
Tandoori Salmon
Mattar Paneer
Baingan Bartha
Dal Makhani
Prawn Biryani
Assorted Indian Breads
Dosa
Iddly
Lassi (Sweet, Salty, Mango, Strawberry, Passionfruit)
Gulab Jamun
Rasmalai
Jalebi
"Lamb vindaloo, malai kofta, curried goat, tandoori salmon, the breads, and a heaping helping of gulab jamun for dessert. That enough for ya, Mo?" She hopes she doesn't judge her for having to Google almost all of those things. She fondly remembers having Gulab Jamun at an Indian restaurant as a really little kid though so she's excited for that.
"Close. Get her some samosas and the biryani too. And muffin, pick a lassi flavor."
Ough, this is gonna be difficult. She doesn't like shrimp, and she really hopes the samosas don't have peas. She's never had mango on its own before but she likes it in sushi so she goes for that for the lassi. "God. You really are intent on making sure I need reinforced furniture by the end of the month, aren't you?"
"Good to know there's an upper bound which appears entirely comfortable."
"It's nice and cozy. Did you know that just like seals and whales fat women make the best open water swimmers?"
"I've heard. Would love to see and/or experience it in person sometime."
"I have not, aside from when you brought me in here. Why do you mention that?"
"Well, if you want to be a good open water swimmer you don't just need to be buoyant and insulated, you have to be able to swim. What's stopping you?"
"I can swim, I just... haven't in a while. Feel weird about strangers seeing me in a swimsuit. Also I don't wanna get sunburned and sunscreen feels icky."